Without A Team
by mr. cloud
Summary: Team seven failed the bell test. Now it's up to Naruto to teach himself how to be a ninja. Will he go at it alone or find himself a Team and teacher.


Tied to a log with chakra resistant rope was one blond-haired blue-eyed boy. It had been three days since team seven had failed Kakashi's infamous bell test and the boy had been there since then. Team seven had failed the bell test for a multitude of reasons. Kakashi had been disappointed with the team's performance. He had expected his sensei's son to be bull headed and weak. Expected the sole female on the team to be childish and immature. What he hadn't expected was for his best friend's cousin to try to kill them both. To try and kill both teammates so that Kakashi could teach him alone.

As Naruto awoke, he noticed that he was tightly tied to a log. Next to him was an unconscious Sasuke. Upon further inspection, Naruto noticed Kakashi laying over a bleeding Sakura with glowing green hands. Blood surrounded the girl in a pool.

"ka-Kakashi-sensei, what happened?" Naruto asked, "why is Sakura bleeding?" Kakashi looked at Naruto, his eyes dead.

"Team 7 fails. I will not be your sensei!" with that Kakashi disappeared in a shushin, taking Sasuke and Sakura along. Naruto sat there confused. He had been knocked unconscious by Kakashi after he'd been caught trying to eat. He knew as soon as he was caught, he was doomed to be tied to the stump. What he didn't understand was what he found upon waking. Sakura had looked pale, almost dead, and Sasuke was suddenly unconscious. Naruto struggled against the ropes holding him against the log. It wasn't long before the boy realized he would be stuck until someone released him. So he sat, struggling anyways.

After three days Naruto had learned a lot. This was by far the longest the boy had ever been in one place so long. His body felt tired and weak despite the constant sitting. Despite doing nothing Naruto felt a large headache and didn't have any desire to wonder about what he'd woken to. He had come to realize what had happened. The only plausible scenario to take place was the last the boy had thought off. Not because Naruto was dumb, but because he was innocent.

Staring at the field around him the boy noticed the signs of battle. The leaves behind where Sasuke had been indicated that a shinobi, Chunin or greater, had shushined behind the young boy. Naruto had figured this to be Kakashi. It didn't take the boy long to figure out why. It started when Sasuke had attacked Sakura, for what reason Naruto did not know. Then Kakashi had moved behind Sasuke, knocking the boy unconscious. After that Naruto assumed the man had gone to heal Sakura, a wound that was severe with the amount of blood on the ground. That's when Naruto came to the conclusion that worried him the most. He had been forgotten, again. After three days, there was no logical conclusion the optimistic boy could come up with that would result in him still being there. Surly Kakashi would have returned to free him after taking Sakura to the Hospital.

It was just after the end of the 3rd day that an Anbu appeared before Naruto. He looked down at the boy tied to the stump. Taking in his appearance. The boy was filthy. He had mud all over him and smelled terribly. The Anbu could see where the boy had recently pissed himself, the soft darkened dirt spreading for quiet some distance.

"Report to the Hokage immediately." He said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Naruto was now free. He hadn't even seen the Anbu throwing a shuriken before disappearing, cutting the ropes that held him. Naruto stood, shakily gaining height. He stumbled a few steps before falling. After picking himself back up the boy continued on to see his Hokage.

Upon arrival Naruto quickly made his way up the stairs and to the Hokage's office. After knocking, he was allowed to enter. There, he found the Hokage, an old man in red and white robes. In his hand was a beautiful wooden pipe that Naruto knew had been passed down for generations.

"Naruto, take a seat my boy, there is a lot to discuss." Said the old man after blowing out a plumb of smoke. Naruto obeyed immediately taking a seat on a leather chair across from the Kage.

"Kakashi has failed team seven. As such you don't have a sensei to lead you." The kage saw the tears well up in the boys eyes. Before he could say anything further the boy shouted.

"I don't understand Jiji. It's not fair. I finally passed the exams and now can't be a ninja because some cyclops says so." Yelled Naruto "I may not be strong yet but that hat is going to be mine." The Hokage laughed interrupting what the blond was going to say.

"Naruto, I said you don't have a sensei, not that you were not a ninja." The blond boy stared at the Hokage before sitting back down.

"Kakashi-Sensei said that if we failed we wouldn't be ninja anymore. I don't understand." The old Kage smiled at the young boy before speaking.

"all part of Kakashi's test my boy. For you see, nobody can strip the rank of a shinobi but the Hokage themselves." The old Kage watched as the boy processed what he said. "Kakashi has failed team seven, meaning he refuses to train you. Sakura has sustained an injury that has left her in the hospital for the foreseeable future and Sasuke has been stripped of his rank for lethally attacking a fellow Konoha shinobi." "This leaves you alone and without a teacher." The kage watched as the boy's head lowered. He smiled as it shot up with determination in his eyes not a second later.

"Just you wait Jiji, I'll have a sensei in no time. And I'll have that hat soon after. Starting today I'm captain and sole member of Team 7." Yelled Naruto as he held his thumb up and smiled. He looked at the room stopping when he reached each corner one of the Hokage's Anbu were hidden. "They will all see Jiji, team seven will be the best to ever have been created." The old Kage laughed as he watched the young boy. He had just called out all of his Anbu, shinobi who were meant to be able to hide and infiltrate the scariest of places.

"very well Naruto, if you wish to form your own team, I'll allow it. However, you are to report to me daily for a mission, and I will expect that you act as the captain of a team if you are to be one." With that the Hokage stood and walked over to a bookshelf. We pulled a few books and scrolls out before handing them to the blond.

"you are dismissed Naruto, I expect you to report in three days having mastered those scrolls and concepts." Naruto nodded before heading out. The last thing anyone in the room saw as the boy left, was the Uzumaki swirl sewn onto his back.

It wasn't until Naruto was home and going through the scrolls the Hokage gave him that he realized he'd been played. The shinobi hierarchy had been beaten into every village member since the day they were born. Because of this even Naruto, who wasn't the most academic student, realized what the kage had done. By making Naruto the Captain of his own team he had forced the boy to mature overnight, or face the consequences. By being a captain of team seven. Naruto was responsible for everything a captain of any team is. This means that he must act like a captain, must write the reports of every mission, and overall perform as a captain. But because Naruto was in a team by himself he gained almost nothing from the rank. He had no subordinates to do his bidding. No one to order around as he pleased. The Hokage had just played him. Given him the responsibilities of a Chunin but reminding him clearly that he wasn't anything more than a Genin dead last. It was at this time Naruto realized his mistake. He sat on his living room floor and began to open the scrolls.

What appeared shoked the blond. The first book was a story called The Tails of A Gusty Ninja. It was an old green book that you could tell had been taken care of. The book had a hard cover but no coverart. Setting the book aside Naruto continued into the pile. Next he found another small book, larger than the first but smaller than the others. He opened it to find it was a workbook. The first half was a textbook about sealing. The second was diagrams and spaces to practice drawing seals himself. It wasn't long before the boy lost interest in the book and moved on. The last piece of text was a scroll. Inside was a series of sealing compartments each labeled something. The first few Naruto could clearly read and understand. They were labeled Math, Science, and Language. The compartments following that were blurred ink, like someone had spilled water on the scroll. In fit of annoyance the boy threw the scroll down.

"Stupid old man tricked me."

On top of the stack of books was a single posted note. "Shadow clones send their memoires back to you."


End file.
